The Vācietis Family Kitchen Exhibition Opens

A historical exhibition of the kitchen in the apartment of Ojārs Vācietis and Ludmila Azarova has opened at the Ojārs Vācietis Museum (19 Ojārs Vācietis Street, Riga), portraying the living conditions and everyday life of the Soviet-era intelligentsia. The exhibition offers visitors a glimpse into the period when the poet Ojārs Vācietis created his most significant works and experienced restrictions on his artistic activities.

The kitchen in the Vācietis family apartment differed from the shared creative space where Soviet-era writers and artists went about their daily lives—guests were not received here; it was primarily the domain of Ludmila’s mother, Emma Azarova. It was here that pies and pancakes were baked, sauerkraut soup and jams were prepared, and semolina porridge “with buttons”—whole berries from strawberry jam—was made for her grandson Žanis. The exhibition recreates this private, family space.

The exhibition includes original family dishes and household items, as well as archival documents—Emma Azarova’s autobiography, Ojārs Vācietis’s draft explanation to the Committee for State Security concerning a letter from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and letters from Berta Alvīne Vāciete in Trapene.

As Dora Pauzere, one of the exhibition’s creators, explains: “The kitchen in the Vācietis family apartment tells us primarily about Emma Azarova, her family and that of Ludmila Azarova, and, to a lesser extent, about Ojārs Vācietis’s parents, Otto Rūdolfs and Berta Alvīne. But it is also a story about the everyday life of the Soviet-era intelligentsia during a difficult and complex period, when Ojārs Vācietis’s opportunities to publish were severely restricted and income from royalties declined substantially. Here one can also see a refrigerator, a tin sink, and a gas stove with a cylinder—items found in the kitchen of any Soviet citizen—as well as the dishes and household objects used by the Vācietis family.”

Visitors to the exhibition can also learn about Ludmila Azarova’s recollections of an episode in which, having returned home through the back door, she overheard Ojārs Vācietis speaking with Committee for State Security officials in the kitchen after Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s letter had been confiscated from Vizma Belševica’s home. The exhibition shows how the personal and the political intertwine within the small space of an ordinary kitchen.

The exhibition was created with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.
Special thanks to the Vācietis family for assisting with the installation of the exhibition.
Author of the artistic concept: Reinis Suhanovs. Implemented by: SIA “Latvijas Galdniecība”.